[CHRISTIA] BIO: Albrecht Duerer, artist (6 Apr 1528) and Michelangelo
James Kiefer's E-Mail Relay
[NOTE: In German, the letters A, O, and U are sometimes modified by
two dots written above, called an "umlaut", and representing a
following "e" in an older spelling. I cannot type "u umlaut," and so
I type "ue".]
Albrecht Duerer, born in 1471 in Nuremberg, Germany, visited Italy
in 1494 and again in 1505, and was the first northern European
artist to immerse himself in the art of the Italian Renaissance.
A deeply religious man, he was affected both in his thought and in
his work by the apocalyptic spirit of the time in the face of
famine, plague, and social and religious upheaval. His paintings and
woodcuts are a close examination of the splendor--as well as the
potential terror--of creation: the human body, animals, grasses, and
flowers.
Although he remained a Roman Catholic throughout his life, he was a
warm admirer of Martin Luther, and expressed regret that he had
never been able to paint him "as a lasting memorial to the Christian
man who has helped me out of great anxiety." He died at Nuremberg on
6 April 1528. Luther wrote to a friend:
Affection bids us mourn for one who was the best of men, yet
you may well consider him happy that he has made so good an end,
and that Christ has taken him from the midst of this time of
trouble.... May he rest in peace with his fathers. Amen.
MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, ARTIST (18 FEBRUARY 1564)
Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, poet, and architect, was
born near Florence, Italy, on 6 March 1475. In his youth, he was an
enthusiastic admirer of Savonarola, the fiery reforming preacher of
Florence (d. 1498). When he was 21, he went to Rome and there carved
the PIETA ("Compassion"), a statue of the Virgin holding the dead
body of her Son in her lap after He was taken down from the cross.
Five years later he returned to Florence and there carved a giant
statue of the youthful DAVID going out to meet Goliath. His
best-known work is his painting of the walls and ceiling of the
pope's chapel--the Sistine Chapel--with a sequence of frescoes
prortraying the Creation and the Last Judgement, accompanied by
portraits of prophets and sybils. He carved a set of statues for the
tomb of the de Medici family, and another for the tomb of Pope
Julius II, including a magnificent and awe-inspiring portrayal of
Moses. He also designed the dome of St. Peter's basilica, and then
spent his last years with poetry, architecture, and drawing. He left
more than 300 sonnets, which contain his spiritual autobiography.
The following sonnet by him (trans. J. A. Symonds) is called
On the Brink of Death.
Now hath my life across a stormy sea
Like a frail bark reached that wide port where all
Are bidden, ere the final reckoning fall
Of good and evil for eternity.
Now know I well how that fond phantasy
Which made my soul the worshipper and thrall
Of earthly art, is vain; how criminal
Is that which all men seek unwillingly.
Those amorous thoughts which were so lightly dressed,
What are they when the double death is nigh?
The one I know for sure, the other dread.
Painting nor sculpture now can lull to rest
My soul that turns to His great love on high,
Whose arms to clasp us on the cross were spread.
PRAYER (traditional language):
O God, who by thy Holy Spirit dost give to some the word of
wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word
of faith: We praise thy Name for the gifts of preaching
through visual representation that thou didst bestow upon thy
servants Albrecht Duerer and Michaelangelo Buonarroti, and we
pray that thy Church may never be destitute of such gifts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the same
Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.
PRAYER (contemporary language):
O God, who by your Holy Spirit give to some the word of wisdom,
to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of
faith: We praise you for the gifts of preaching through visual
representation that you gave to your servants Albrecht Duerer
and Michaelangelo Buonarroti, and we pray that your Church may
never be destitute of such gifts; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever.
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